Chondrocyte growth matrices

Van der Kraan, P. M., Buma, R, Van Kuppevelt, T., and Van Den Berg, W. B. 2002. Interaction of chondrocytes, extracellular matrix and growth factors relevance for articular cartilage tissue engineering. 

The principal cell in cartilage is the chondrocyte. Responsible for matrix production during growth and maintenance of the matrix in mature tissue, chondrocytes occupy only about 10 percent of the overall tissue volume (Mankin et al., 1994). Due to the avascular nattire of articular cartilage, the provision of metabolites to the cells is assumed to occur via diffusion from the synovial fluid or, to a lesser extent, the underlying bone (Mankin et al., 1994). However, the lack of blood supply severely diminishes the ability of cartilage to heal once it has been damaged. 

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